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There is a significant group of people around the world claiming to act in the name of Islam. However, most of them are completely oblivious to the Qur'an. They are living by a pretend religion, one devised largely of superstitions. They claim that there their actions are ordered by the Qur'an, when it is not, and they declare what is legal according to the Qur'an to be illegal, they come up with new rules and try to turn Islam, the religion of peace and love, into a religion of hatred and war. Their most pernicious attribute is that they call this new religion ‘Islam’ and inflict grave damage to Islam with the atrocities they commit using Islam’s name.

Everything is banned according to their religion. They are not allowed to laugh, be happy, look good, or learn according to this new religion they have created. Their religion bans all the good things and blessings that Allah gave to us as gifts. Their religion is composed of hatred, rage and unhappiness. Their religion is complete darkness, because they don’t follow the true Qur'an. They have replaced the truth with falsehoods. They slander our Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) ascribing to him some words that are in contradiction with the Qur'an, calling them hadiths. [Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) is beyond that]. They are trying to change the Qur'an and replace it with a new religion. Yet remarkably, they don’t actually follow this pretend religion that they produced.

Even though the masterminds of this dark religion are only a handful of people, they have managed to exert an influence that is disproportionate to their actual numbers. Many people think that this model is the real Islam. And many others think that these superstitions are to be followed in order to practice Islam. These lovers of superstition think that they should stay away from the Qur'an, and they remain completely oblivious to the real Qur'an. The only thing they do is learn these superstitions and follow them as religion.

Allah describes in the Qur'an such people who ban what Allah has permitted (legal):

Say: ‘Who has forbidden the fine clothing Allah has produced for His slaves and the good kinds of provision?’ Say: ‘On the Day of Rising such things will be exclusively for those who had belief during their life in the world.’ In this way We make the Signs clear for people who know. (Surat Al-Ar’af, 32)

Almighty Allah informs us of a very important fact in this verse: “...that there are people who say that legal things are illegal.” Surely, there are people who don’t pay attention to what is right and wrong and act indifferently. However, in this verse Allah specifically mentions some people who are making what Allah declared as ‘legal’, ‘illegal’ and doing that ‘in the name of religion’. In other words, these people are in effect changing the religion and imposing a different religion using the name of Allah.

This becomes clearer when we compare the true commands of our religion with the practices introduced by those who are trying to spread their religion of superstitions:

1-Allah created happiness as a blessing, but they ban laughing

A Muslim is the happiest person on Earth. A Muslim should be the happiest person, because he understands Allah, he believes in Him and he knows how to trust Allah, how to be patient and how to give thanks. He doesn’t have any fears for the future, as he knows that no matter what happens to him, no matter how it looks, it’s always a blessing in disguise, and that he is living his destiny and that death is not an end for him, but the time he finally gets to go to his Lord and begin his eternal life. How could such a person ever be upset? In addition to that, being happy is a command from our Almighty Lord. Allah explains that grief and sadness is the quality of the unbelievers:

Let them laugh little and weep much, in repayment for what they have earned. (Surat At-Tawba, 82)

The lovers of superstition attempt to nullify Allah’s above command using fake hadiths. They think that Muslims are better off being sad, which Allah says only the unbelievers deserve to be. They want to destroy the joy and happiness, the biggest need of the soul and the body. They wish to deprive Muslims of the joy of heaven, although Muslims are the ones that will ‘rejoice’ in heaven.

They are unaware of the real meaning of their actions when they approve of sadness. Getting upset when something doesn’t go their way is the same thing as saying ‘I wish it hadn’t happened’, which is basically the same thing as rebelling against destiny, whether one likes to admit it or not. They are unaware of the fact that by thinking that being sad is okay, they are defying the command of Allah, and rebelling against the destiny created by Him.

Faith is one of the biggest gifts from Allah. A believer, even if he has none of the blessings in the life of this world, even if he has the greatest difficulties, even if things seem to take a turn for the worse for him, the happiness and peace the faith gives to him is beyond all those seemingly negative situations. Allah puts peace, tranquility, happiness and serenity in the hearts of those who turn to Him. However, a person who doesn’t turn to Allah, who doesn’t lead a life for the purpose of gaining Allah’s pleasure, cannot possibly feel happy, no matter how much he claims he can.

Allah may give such people worldly gifts as a part of the test, and such a person might seem to be enjoying all sorts of beauties and wealth. However, he cannot find the happiness his soul is constantly longing for. Allah explains in the 28th verse Surat Ar-Rad, that “...those who have belief and whose hearts find peace in the remembrance of Allah. Only in the remembrance of Allah can the heart find peace.”

This description of Allah for ‘the hearts finding peace’ can be possible only with the remembrance of Allah and with a deep and passionate love for Allah. There is no way for happiness other than sincere faith, which is following the Qur'an unconditionally.

Allah gives glad tidings to His righteous and sincere servants with the news of a good life both in this world and in the hereafter:

"... There is good in the world for those who do good, and the abode of the hereafter is even better. How wonderful is the abode of those who have fear of Allah.(Surat An-Nahl, 30)

Anyone who acts rightly, male or female, being a believer, We will give them a good life and We will recompense them according to the best of what they did. (Surat an-Nahl, 97)

There is good news for them in the life of the world and in the hereafter. There is no changing the words of Allah. That is the great victory!. (Surat Yunus, 64)

Their Lord gives them the good news of His mercy and good pleasure and Gardens where they will enjoy everlasting delight. (Surat At-Tawba, 21)

The angels descend on those who say, ‘Our Lord is Allah,’ and then go straight: ‘Do not fear and do not grieve but rejoice in the Garden you have been promised " (Surat Fussilat, 30)

2. Allah exalts and praises women while the radicals try to insult women

Insulting women is the most important attribute of the lovers of superstition . To them, women are worthless, mere second-class citizens. They should be compared to dogs and pigs. They should be locked down, made ugly as much as possible, and prevented from receiving an education. They also ban women from touching the Qur'an; they certainly don’t want women to learn religion. They think that women are to be locked down, serve their husbands and know their place.

Because of this mad state of mind, the radicals and the superstitious react violently when they see a woman in the social world, outside the borders they see proper for women. And especially if that woman is well-groomed and well-educated and more importantly, if she praises Allah, reads the words of Allah, they get even angrier. They feel rage. First they say ‘They should not touch the Qur'an’. They try to prevent such ladies from reading the verses of Allah. Then they start criticizing them for their clothes, makeup, and other physical qualities. The truth is, they are so full of hatred and rage, a woman fully covered will make them as angry as a women wearing modern clothes as they always try to find a point that they can criticize and use to insult women. They are full of hatred and they always look for things that they can hate. For this reason, they usually fabricate fake reasons and use it as an excuse for their hatred.

To them, a woman cannot possibly be ‘religious’ no matter what she does. According to this twisted frame of mind, a woman is not supposed to be a part of society, laugh, talk, be educated, well-groomed or modern.

And yet when they are asked if they have any Qur'anic basis for their radical approach to women, they keep quiet, as the Qur'an has no basis for their superstitions. On the contrary, the Qur'an explains that women and men are equal in terms of responsibility. The Qur'an addresses to believing women and believing men. According to the Qur'an, a duty of a woman is not staying at home and living a life unaware of her religion and the world and being a slave to her husband: According to the Qur'an, a woman is supposed to do her part in the intellectual struggle Allah wants to be done for Allah’s pleasure and make an effort to spread the moral values of the Qur'an. The description of women in the Qur'an is completely different from the view the radicals have of women.

In the Qur'an, women are rulers of their countries. Allah gives the Queen of Sheba, Balkis, as an example of a ruler who is trusted and consulted for her opinions. The other examples in the verses and hadiths make it abundantly clear the importance Allah wants people to attach to women:

- There is nothing in the Qur'an that bans sitting down together with women. On the contrary, many accounts of the lives of the Prophets make it clear that they always spent time with women and talked to them.

- There are many hadiths explaining how Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) spent time together with ladies. In addition, Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) preached to many different women from different backgrounds and groups during the Festival of Ukaz.

- The Qur'an speaks about righteous women who stayed away from the shepherds but asked for the help of Prophet Moses (as), and spent time with him.

- Prophet Soloman (as) invited the Queen of Sheba, Balkiz, to his palace to preach to her and even made a joke as she entered the palace. That led Balkiz to think that the floor of the palace was a shallow pool so she pulled her skirt up, trying to pass without getting wet although it was actually a glass floor with the appearance of a pool. At that moment, Balkiz was in the company of Prophet Soloman (as).

- Prophet Joseph (as), lived in the same house for years with the wife of the Egyptian officer that he stayed in the house of. The verse even makes it clear that they were even alone in a room together. Also, the lady friends of the wife of the officer paid frequent visits there as well and the Qur'an makes it clear that Prophet Joses (as) spent time with them.

Prophet Mohammed (saas) Saw Ladies as the Ornaments of the World and Attached Them Great Importance

Prophet Mohammed (saas), through his life and by explaining the Qur'anic verses, taught all of humanity the measures that should be taken so that women are protected, respected and loved as commanded by Allah in the Qur'an. Everything Prophet Mohammed (saas) did in his life was practicing the Qur'an and therefore he always favored women and took measures to make sure they were protected and guarded from harm and pain. Indeed, the way our Prophet Mohammed (saas) treated his wives is a great example to all Muslims in how they should approach women. For instance, Khadija (ra), one of his first wives, as well as Sauda, Aisha, Hafsah, Umm Habiba, Umm Salama, Safia, Moyomuna, Zainab bint Jahsh, Juwairya (ra) gave many accounts of beautiful and exemplary treatment of women by Prophet Mohammed (saas).

It is reported that the Prophet (saas) would play with his wives and run races with them. His companions described the Prophet's (saas) great interest in his wives in the words, " The Prophet (saas) used to joke with his wives... (Imam Ghazzali's Ihya Ulum-Id-Din, Volume 2, p. 32) showing to the whole world how loving and protective Prophet Mohammed (saas) was of his wives.

Aisha (ra) said: "I have never seen a man who was more compassionate to his family members than Muhammad (saas)."(Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Fada'il,63). These words explain how Muslim men are supposed to treat their wives and all ladies in general.

Prophet Mohammed (saas), described on many occasions how valuable the believing women were. For example one time, he said: ‘This world is nothing but temporary conveniences, and the greatest joy in this world is a righteous woman."(Muslim, Rada 64, (1467); Nesai, Nikah 15, (6,69); Al-Qutub-al Sittah, Translation and Interpretation, Prof. Dr. İbrahim Canan, vol.15, Akçağ Publishing, Ankara, p. 514).

The hypocrisy of those who are trying to ascribe the superstitions they have about women to our religion

Those who are trying to insult women using the name of Islam are actually being very hypocritical. These people who criticize women for being on TV, for dancing or for sitting together with men are actually the very same people who are living side by side with women all the time. At school, at home, on buses, in malls, in the elevators, in short everywhere in their daily lives, they are side by side with women and it should be noted that most of those women are not wearing headscarves, and wear makeup. They work with them, chat with them, dine with them, take part together in social activities and they even go on vacation together with them. That’s how it should be : It is impossible even to think about a system where it is not like this.

This is the part where they are most hypocritical because in reality, they want to shut away and cover up and even get rid of women, owing to their sick state of mind. Yet they have no reservations in looking at women on TV or in newspapers. Even on the TV channels or newspapers which represent a similar world view, there are constant images of ladies which are wearing revealing clothes and full makeup. They hypocritically ignore those TV channels, and criticize others to show themselves as the most pious ones.

According to the Qur'an, women have a very esteemed place in the society

The years of debate surrounding the role of women are the result of the distorted view of radicals in regard to women. This nonsensical approach to women is the reason why there are so many women in many countries who are being subjected to the most appalling mistreatment and violence, who are unemployed, abandoned, needy or left alone in a nursing home. The only real solution to that problem is people living by the morals of the Qur'an. Allah, through many verses in the Qur'an, protects women and their rights and put an end to the perverted view of women by those mistaken societies and gave women the esteemed place they deserve .

Our Lord explains in the Qur'an that what makes one valuable in His sight is not gender, but fear of Allah, faith, good moral values, sincerity and love of Allah.

“Mankind! We created you from a male and female,and made you into peoples and tribes so that you might come to know each other.The noblest among you in Allah’s sight is the one with the most piety. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.” (Surat Al-Hujurat, 13)

3-They spread the lie that music, paintings and dancing are forbidden in Islam

Say: ‘Who has forbidden the fine clothing Allah has produced for His slaves and the good kinds of provision?’ Say: ‘On the Day of Rising such things will be exclusively for those who had belief during their life in the world.’ In this way We make the Signs clear for people who know.(Surat Al-Ar’af, 32)

Although beauty, bountiful food, happiness, joy, love, art, dance, music, entertainment and all such beauties are allowed by Allah, the lovers of superstition ban them all. When they are asked, ‘What is the source of all these bans?’ they either say it is the traditions or show their fake hadiths as a basis for their actions. They don’t have a single shred of evidence they can show from the Qur'an.

Music, dance, having fun, being happy, art, science, paintings are all allowed for Muslims. There is not a single word in the Qur'an that bans these beauties. They are all created by Allah as gifts, and surely the lovers of Allah are the ones who deserve these gifts the most.

Radicals want a soulless, tasteless and unsophisticated world

Now try to picture the world the lovers of superstition wish to live in. How would it feel without music, art, or science? How could anyone say that Muslims deserve a world where there is no beauty, which is completely dark, isolated, dull, and tasteless? And who could say that Muslims should live in such conditions when there is nothing in the Qur'an that requires that.

Allah encourages through the Qur'an that the skies and the Earth should be studied to see the creation artistry of Allah, leading us to a stronger faith. So how could anyone ban science after that? How could anyone try to prevent discovery of the evidence of creation? What could an ignorant world without music, art, science, bring to Muslims and Islam other than harm?

Indeed, all such wrong practices so far have always led to Islam being misunderstood. After the superstition-loving, radical state of mind spread, the Islamic societies which previously brought science, art and civilization to the world collapsed, shut themselves away from the world and a dark, isolated, ugly, ignorant, unsophisticated understanding of religion emerged. The basic reason why Islamic countries are mostly underdeveloped, mostly unsophisticated and crude and why Westerners do not value Muslims, is radicalism.

The people with a radical mindset always live a soulless, tasteless, raw life. The houses, neighborhoods, organizations and streets of such people always reflect that cold, soulless, crude view. Such people are known with their fondness for starting new foundations, but even there they cannot manage to stay together or produce anything useful because of the lovelessness in their hearts. These foundations are shut down after a while, having done nothing. They always want to keep that dark world alive everywhere they go. They don’t want beauty, color, aesthetics or art in their worlds. They don’t know how to be beautiful or how to beautify things. Allah loves what is beautiful. That’s why Allah created heaven full of beauties. How could someone that seeks to ban all these beauties in the world and is proud of doing that, ever enjoy the beauties in heaven?

Another mistaken idea such people have is that they think it’s acceptable for those people who are away from Allah to enjoy these beauties but Muslims should not be allowed to have any of them. However, it is actually the lovers of Allah that truly deserve those beauties. Allah informs us of this in the Qur'an:

" On the Day of Rising such things will be exclusively for those who had belief during their life in the world." (Surat Al-Ar’af, 32)

Another highly interesting thing about most of these people is that they don’t practice what they preach. These people attempt to invent new rules that have no basis in the Qur'an and try to show it as a part of Islam. Then they impose it on Muslims, and when they cannot find any basis for their allegations in the Qur'an, they come up with more new rules and fake hadiths that are in complete contradiction with the Qur'an. In their private lives, music, dance, watching TV, visiting casinos are all ordinary things that they do with no reservations. However, they try to show off by putting on a fake appearance to cause division and show themselves as ‘religious’. Their real lives are not like what they like people to believe.

They listen to music all the time, go to places where there is music and dance but despite that, they never stop criticizing others. That’s the essence of their insincerity. Most of those people do not even pray five times a day and do not observe other religious obligations. All those superstitions they invented are simply intended to show them as religious; it is purely for public view to display their so-called piety.

Sometimes they misinterpret Qur'anic verses according to their own state of mind, change their meanings and seek to justify their wrong actions by this misinterpretation. They commit sins, but try to justify it with their strange state of mind. They keep talking about how much they don’t feel like getting up and doing their prayers, which is one of the greatest gifts in the world, and which is a means to express gratitude to Allah. Insincerity is all too common in their religion of superstitions.

More interestingly, some of them are well aware of their hypocrisy and insincerity. Although these people have a religion of superstitions that is in blatant contradiction with the Qur'an, they believe that they are religious. Their eyes are closed. They are not able to think according to the Qur'an and therefore they cannot see the truth.

The Qur'an does not ban music, dance or entertainment

Just like the Qur'an does not ban music, dance or entertainment, Prophet Mohammed (saas) did not do anything that would indicate something like that, either. The lovers of superstition act insincerely one more time, some openly lie, and some are unaware of the truth. Allah allows Muslims to be happy, to feel joy, to rejoice. Our Almighty Lord says in a verse: “Do not give up and do not be downhearted. You shall be uppermost if you are believers.” (Surat Ali İmran, 139) and thus bans Muslims from grieving.

Moreover,

- In the hadiths of Prophet Mohammed (saas), there are plenty of mentions of the companions that danced and that even Porphet Mohammed (pbuh) himself encouraged those who were dancing.

- The Torah explains that Prophet David (as) was singing songs of praise to Allah with his beautiful voice and that he played musical instruments and Prophet David (as) is praised for that. So, it is clear that Allah sees it as a beautiful act and because Allah likes it, Allah gives us the good news of such joys in heaven, too.

- Dance is about rhythm and harmony. Allah created the whole universe with a rhythm. Birds, insects, even butterflies dance. The birds make their beautiful music with their tongues. The sound of the sea, the sound of the wind-blown leaves in a forest, they always have a rhythm. Allah loves rhythm, dance, music, beautiful sounds.

- Heaven is created with that rhythm, too. In heaven, all the tress, flowers and animals will dance with joy. One hadith explains it as follows:

Abu Moses al-Es'ari (r.a.) narrates: He said the following during the sermon in Basra: "Allah sent a message to the residents of Paradise: “Did Allah keep His promise to you?” and at that moment, the residents of paradise will look at all the jewelries, clothes, fruits, pure spouses, rivers and then they will immediately say, “Allah has kept His promise to us.” The angel will ask three times, “Has Allah kept His promise to you?” and they see that everything they were promised came true, they will say, “Yes!”. The angel will answer: “There is one last thing”, because Almighty Allah manifests Himself on His servants, and lifts the curtains in front of their eyes, and when His servants see Him, all the rivers will gush, all the trees will sway and make nice sounds, all the mansions, all the flames will shout out with joy, all the springs will flow even more beautifully and faster, beautiful fragrances will fill the courtyards and the mansions, beautiful musk and camphor will travel around. Birds will chirp, and khuris will fascinate with their beauties. (Death, Resurrection Day, Resurrection, İman Şarani, p. 370)

- There is folklore and dance all around Anatolia. Horon, halay, zeybek are all different types of dances in Anatolia. People dance everywhere in Europe and the USA. A world where music and dance are banned is not in line with human nature. This would create a huge distortion in human culture and an amazing gift of our Almighty Lord would be missing. Trying to ban a beautiful gift that Almighty Allah praises would amount to failure in understanding Allah and His amazing art.

- The radical state of mind that bans dance bans music, too. It is not even possible to picture such a quiet and cold world. Just imagine; you turn on the TV or the radio, and there is no music, no harmony. How could anyone want to destroy such a beauty? How could there be art, aesthetics, beauty or joy in such a dull world?

Those who wish to bring such a dark world to Islam do not know what they are doing. They do not know that they are trying to destroy the beautiful spirit of Islam, that they are inflicting the worst damage onto Muslim societies, that they are taking away their joy, happiness and creativity. They want people to believe that religion can be practiced in that blind world. They neither practice religion as it should be practiced, nor do they serve Islam. They are solely bringing conflict, dullness, darkness and boredom to the Islamic world. They are spreading a radical frame of mind that has no basis in the Qur'an and since they are driving people away from Islam, they show Islam as a loveless, hateful religion, in effect, hurting the entire world as a result.

If the lovers of superstition had their way with music;

There would be no compositions from Mozart, Vivaldi, or folkloric Turkish songs, or classical Turkish songs.

There would be no national anthems, or our national anthem and Janissary songs.

The Ottomans went into battle with Janissary songs which praised Allah, and won great victories. The lovers of superstition also believe that they were wrong.

There would be no musical instruments like the violin, the guitar, etc., nor the ney which some of those people do actually consider acceptable.

There would be no conservatories, theatres, or cinema.

As music is so beloved in Europe and the USA, there would be no music or no music-related art and all those beauties would be completely ended.

Social events, organizations with Americans and Europeans would be canceled if there was any possibility of music in those events.

They consider “any person sitting in an environment where there is music” a deviator, and a person “enjoying that music” an unbeliever, therefore they wouldn’t believe in the words of such a person, dubbing him an unreliable person. This alone would be sufficient to prevent building a society based on trust. How could such a country be expected to have good relations with other countries?

Examples of the insincerity of those people who are tyring to ban music:

Although they forbid music, they keep watching music channels, listen to music and have fun.

Those who are against music go to weddings, go on the floor and dance and sing.

They say music is wrong but they organize competitions with music and dance halay.

Most probably, when they are alone in their cars, these people are listening to music.Music has a warming and comforting effect that helps with preaching. Music puts joy in heart that is in love with Allah.

Prophet Mohammed (saas) sang songs, attended events with music, and went to weddings.

It is an outrageous lie to say that music is a sin in all religions.

If the lovers of superstition had their way with art;

There would be no paintings or advertisement billboards anywhere in the world.

There would be no artwork in texts used to preach the message of Islam.

There would be no illustrations in textbooks.

There would be no paintings, or vases, glass or tableware with artwork on them in the hotels.

There would be no artwork on banknotes.

The fabulous paintings in the palaces and wall art would not be there.

The anatomy textbooks wouldn’t have illustrations that describe the human body. There would be no pictures, illustrations or beautiful sights in books prepared to spread the message of Islam.

There would be no art schools like the Fine Arts Academies.

Allah mentions the statues Prophet Solomon (as) had built, but if the radicals had their way, there would be no statues as well.

No newspapers, magazines, books or internet would be allowed. Such people would consider watching TV forbidden too.

We would not have recognized the presidents, leaders, celebrities or artists of other countries.

Mass communication tools, such as the internet and others, are important tools in the End Times to be used for the spread of religion. According to the bans of the lovers of superstition, they would be banned too, and therefore the efforts to spread the message of Islam would be impeded and slowed down.

Allah orders us “to take lessons from history, go around and see”. If it wasn’t for paintings, we wouldn’t have known about some historical remains, we wouldn’t have known about the histories of other countries, we wouldn’t have watched documentaries, we would have only technical knowledge about them but never have an idea of what they actually looked like.

There would be no documentaries about the signs leading to faith or history and there would be a huge shortcoming in terms of general knowledge and ignorance would have prevailed.

It is of paramount importance to know and ponder over the signs leading to faith so that one gets a deeper faith in Allah. However, because of the bans of the lovers of superstition, we would have never known what they really looked like. For example, we wouldn’t have recognized the animals we didn’t see with our eyes.

Makeup, cosmetics, being well-groomed, being clean, wearing nice clothes, modernism and education, in short ‘sophistication’, is a requirement of Islam

Muslims deserve the best of everything. Allah prepares the believers for heaven, the place of infinite beauties, with the blessings He gives in this world. And Muslims make sure that the world they live in is as close to heaven as possible, making it almost a preview of heaven. They make a great effort to ensure that through their cleanliness, their beautiful characters and their well-groomed appearances.

Muslims surely will lead a good, sophisticated life, and will have a clean, well-groomed look. This is because beauty, being well-groomed, aesthetics, taste in art are all qualities that Allah loves. The Qur'an does not ban Muslim women from putting on makeup or looking well-groomed. Indeed, during the time of Prophet Mohammed (saas) ladies were always very well-groomed. They were putting on make up too. In fact, men too, during that time, most notably our Prophet Mohammed (saas), would apply a type of eyeliner. Muslim ladies were using blush, eyeliners, lipsticks and henna on their nails and hands. They were also using special hairdyes.

Indeed, Prophet Mohammed (saas) encouraged dyeing the hair, and indeed he dyed his hair, too. The hadiths make it clear that the hair color he loved the most in women was blonde:

5882- Narrated by İbn Abbas ra:

A man passed by Prophet Mohammed (saas) with his hair dyed with henna. He said: ‘It looks good’. Then another man passed that dyed his hair with a mixture of henna and ketem (a type of black hair dye). He said: ‘This is better’. Then another man passed by who dyed his hair blonde and he said: ‘This is the best of all’. (SOURCE: GREAT HADITH COLLECTION, am'ul-fawaid min Jami'il-usul wa Majma'ith-zawaid, Imam Muhammed Bin Muhammed bin Sulayman er-Rudani, Iz Publishing/2nd edition, Istanbul 2009, page 257-261-262-265-271-272-273)

Women should of course look very well groomed and attractive, complemented with their noble demeanor. This can be achieved only with sophistication, and sophistication will lead to respect by other people. It doesn’t take being rich or very beautiful to achieve that. It is sufficient to have that pure outlook of the Qur'an, with a desire to look clean, well-groomed and dapper in line with the pure and clean spirit in the Qur'an. Muslims always carry holy light on them and looking dapper and well-groomed to complement that holy light will only add to his prestige and sophistication. Everyone that sees a well-groomed, sophisticated, confident Muslim lady will admire their looks, their confidence, their sophistication and their lives in general.

Makeup is one of the allowed ways of looking well-groomed and beautiful and it is a blessing from Allah. Allah loves all beauties. That’s why women, flowers, trees, butterflies, birds were created so beautiful. Allah has adorned heaven with such beauties.

It is usually people with a radical view that try to make makeup illegitimate. They have lost their sense of enjoying such beauties. In their dark worlds, there is no place for art, love, happiness, joy, beauty or aesthetics and therefore they would rather see a woman ugly than beautiful. According to them, the uglier, the more disheveled a woman looks, she who is created as the epitome of beauty, the more suited she is for their darkened worlds.

Therefore their understanding of Islam gives the same eerie image to the world. In the fake religion of the radicals, the women are deprived of beauty, left without any possibility of being beautiful, or getting an education; they were made ugly and pushed out. According to them, women are insecure beings with no intrinsic value. What modern, contemporary, educated person would accept a religion that makes a woman ugly and worthless? Who would want to represent such a religion? Who would defend such a religion?

Because of this wrong view, Western societies misunderstand Islam completely and stay away from it: This is nothing unexpected. The role given to women in this model of the radicals is reason enough for Westerners to stay away. These superstitions based on such a dark view, instead of the beautiful religion that Prophet Mohammed (saas) preached are introduced to the world as the religion of Islam. That’s why the world is afraid of Islam.

These lovers of superstition, in this fake religion they have conjured up using the name of Islam, have destroyed all the beauties and gifts with their own hands and lost their ability to enjoy the beauties that Allah created. As the signs of creation inspire and cheer up a believer with their incredible beauties, the radicals lack the ability to enjoy the color or scent of a flower, the beauty of a fruit, the adorable looks of a puppy or even the sweeping beauty of a cloudless sky.

Despite that, when they encounter something of beauty they are immediately reminded of the darkness of their own lives and they don’t feel moved by that beauty but uncomfortable instead. This usually comes out as jealousy. This is the basis of their reaction to a beautiful, well-groomed lady. They want that beautiful lady to look ugly just like the disheveled people around them. They cannot accept the fact that she is beautiful. They cannot praise beauty and they can't understand the beauty of praising Allah for such stunning sights. Therefore, they always respond with hostility when they see an object of beauty and seek to destroy them.

4- They say it is wrong to wear nice clothes, or designer clothes, or to have beautiful houses or cars

Prophet Mohammed (saas) and the companions around him were the most sophisticated, most modern and cleanest people of their time. If Prophet Mohammed (saas) were alive today, he would be the epitome of beauty, sophistication and modernism, the most high quality person now. Anyone could easily spot the difference, the sophistication he had, out of all other people in the world. The hadiths explain that Prophet Mohammed (saas) was wearing a kaftan with gold embroidery:

5756-Other account: “ ‘Son! Go, get me Prophet Mohammed!’ I was surprised and I said: ‘Am I supposed to get you the Messenger of Allah?’ ‘Son! He is not an arrogant man!’ and then I called him. Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) came in, wearing a kaftan with gold embroidery and said: Mahreme! This is what I kept for you...” (GREAT HADITH COLLECTION, Jam'ul-fawaid min Jami'il-usul wa Majma'ith-zawaid, Imam Muhammed Bin Muhammed bin Sulayman er-Rudani, Iz Publishing/2nd edition, Istanbul 2009, page 257-261-262-265-271-272-273)

The lovers of superstition, in their bid to make their traditions a religion, suffer from a massive inferiority complex and therefore do not think they deserve anything beautiful, or nice clothes, beautiful houses or good cars. What's more, they don’t think other Muslims deserve them either. According to them, affluent Americans or Europeans deserve those beauties more. In their religion, it is perfectly reasonable that a person who is completely away from religion lives in the most luxurious houses, has the best cars, clothes. However, when a Muslim does the same, they go berserk. This increases their frustration and inferiority complex even more.

Allah, as we explained before, mentions those people who are banning blessings such as cleanliness or good food. Those people who wish to forbid Muslims to have these beauties are covered by those verses.

Muslims should of course do everything in their power to protect people in need and do everything they can for Allah’s pleasure. However, that doesn’t require a Muslim to live a dirty, disheved, shabby life. A Muslim, no matter how he looks, has an incredible power to spread the beautiful message of Islam. His influence as a Muslim to preach Islam will increase the more sophisticated, clean and dapper he looks. Also with his cheerful, extroverted demeanor and modern view, he will excel in spreading the message of Islam. However, surely looking well-groomed or being open-minded is not a quality that is realized only during times of preaching Islam: It is a lifestyle, an outlook a Muslim should have.

People, instead of running away from a horrible, ragged lifestyle that insults women, will run to Islam as soon as they understand how peaceful and sophisticated it is and will want to be a part of it. Indeed, during the time of Prophet Mohammed (saas), his incredible looks, gentle and cheerful mood and modern style impressed everyone that saw him. It is a known fact that when Prophet Mohammed (sas) accepted foreign ambassadors, he would always wear the finest clothes of the time, like Byzantium cloaks. He also would always send Hz. Dıhye (ra) to give his message to the rulers of other countries, as Hz. Dıhye was considered exceptionally handsome and he would always wear the finest and most expensive clothes when he set out to spread the message of Islam. He was so stunning people would go out on the streets to get a closer look when he went somewhere to give the message of Prophet Mohammed (saas).

This clear fact that Islam requires Muslims to look good, to wear nice clothes and the fact that they deserve the best of everything was clearly reflected in the life of Prophet Mohammed (pbuh). Allah says in the Qur'an:, “...wear fine clothing in every mosque… “ (Surat Al-Ar’af, 31) and makes it clear that fine clothing and richness are blessings from Allah and He orders us to look nice and well-groomed in mosques, the places of worship.

Some of the hadiths of Prophet Mohammed (saas) explaining how Muslims should wear nice clothes and be refined, are as follows:

5782- Narrated by Ebul Ahvas, who heard it from his father: “I went to see Prophet (pbuh) with shabby clothes on. He asked: ‘Do you have any properties?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘What kind?’ ‘All sorts, like sheep, lamps, horses, camels that Allah so graciously gave to me.’ ‘If Allah gave you goods, let His generosity and graciousness be seen on you.” (GREAT HADITH COLLECTION, Jam'ul-fawaid min Jami'il-usul wa Majma'ith-zawaid, Imam Muhammed Bin Muhammed bin Sulayman er-Rudani, Iz Publishing/2nd edition, Istanbul 2009, page 257-261-262-265-271-272-273)

5785-Narrated by Cabir ra: We went to Enmar battle with the Prophet (pbuh)… The Messenger of Allah, we have a friend from Madina. We prepared him too, he is coming from behind to look out for us. Then that man came with two pieces of clothing that were torn in places. When Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) saw him, he asked:

“Doesn’t he have any other thing to wear other than those two torn clothes?”

“He has two other articles of clothing in his sack that I gave him to wear.”

“Fetch him and tell him to wear them.”

I called him and he wore my clothes. As he turned around to go, the Messenger of Allah said: “Why (would he wear his old clothes when he has new ones), isn’t this better for him?”

The man heard him and said: “Messenger of Allah! Should I be wearing new clothes while fighting in the way of Allah?”

5- They do not have any love for children or animals and if they see someone with love for them, they recoil

One of the superstitions that have no place in Islam, albeit wrongly attributed to it, is about children, which are one of the most beautiful blessings in this world. People with a radicalized mindset have the darkest souls and even the greatest beauties mean nothing to them. They even might hate them. They hate flowers, children, cats, dogs, rabbits. They are completely hollow inside. As indicated in one Qur'anic verse, “But they are like propped-up planks of wood” (Surat Al-Munafiqun, 4).There is no trace of love in their souls. They don’t value people and they don’t value anything alive. There is no room for kindness, gentleness or compassion in their souls.

However, Islam orders us to love everything that is beautiful and be protective of it. For example, children should be loved and protected very profoundly. Prophet Mohammed (saas) was once again the greatest example of such beautiful morals with his profound love for children. He took a close interest in his own children and grandchildren, as with those of his companions. In regards to them, he made suggestions about everything, from their birth to choosing names for them, from their health to their education, from their clothes to the games they played, all of which he played an active role in.

For example, shortly before his daughter Fatimah gave birth to his two grandchildren, he told her: "When there is a birth, do nothing to the child without informing me."1 After the babies were born, he instructed on how they were to be fed, looked after and protected.

The Prophet (saas) also prayed for new-born babies, for his children and grandchildren, and for the children of his companions. As he held them on his knee or watched them playing, he would ask Allah to give them long and prosperous lives, as well as wisdom and faith. At every opportunity he would pray for his grandchildren Hassan and Hussein, saying that the prayer he used was the same as that Abraham (as) used for Isaac (as) and Ishmael (as).

Ibn Abbas (ra), one of his companions, relates how when he was a child, the Prophet (saas) said, "Allah, teach him wisdom." During the childhood of Anas bin Malik, another of his companions, he prayed to Allah to give him much wealth, many children and a long life, and that these would be auspicious for him.2

The Prophet (saas) attached great importance to children's play, and sometimes even joined in with them. He recommended parents to play with their children, saying, "Let he who has a child be as a child with him."3 He suggested that children play such games and sports as swimming, running and wrestling, and encouraged his own grandchildren and the children of those around him to do so.

Many of his companions have described how the Prophet (saas) loved children, and took an interest in and played with them. Here are a number of examples:

Anas bin Malik (r.a):

"The Prophet (saas) was one of the foremost people when it came to playing and joking with children."4

Abu Huraira (ra) describes the Prophet's (saas) love of children and how he used to play with them:

I went along with Allah's Messenger (saas) at a time during the day but he did not talk to me and I did not talk to him until he reached Bazar of Banu Qunaiqa. He came back to the tent of Fatima and said: “Is the little chap (meaning Hassan) there?” We were under the impression that his mother had detained him in order to bathe him and dress him and garland him with sweet garland. Not much time had passed that he (Hassan) came running until both of them embraced each other, thereupon Allah's Messenger (saas) said: “O Allah, I love him; love him and love one who loves him (Hassan)..."7

According to Anas bin Malik (ra), the Prophet (saas) used to often call his grandchildren, Hassan and Hussein, over to him and cuddle them. 8

Ibnu Rebi'ati'ibni Haris (ra) says:

"My father sent al-Fadl the son of Abbas and me to the Prophet (saas). When we came into his presence, he sat us down on his right and left, and embraced us more strongly than we had ever seen before."9

The Prophet (saas) would often caress the heads of children and pray for them. For example, Yusuf 'Ibn Abdullah 'Ibn Selam (ra) says the Prophet (saas) would often call him by name and pat his head. Amr Ibnu Hureys (ra) describes how his mother took him into the presence of the Prophet (saas), and how the latter would pat his head and pray that he would always receive his daily bread. When Abdullah Ibnu Utbe (ra) was five or six, he also recalls the Prophet (saas) patting his head and praying he would have many descendants and live in plenty.10

Abu Huraira (ra) provides the following examples of the Prophet Muhammad's (saas) interest in and love for children:

"When the people saw the first fruit (of the season) they brought it to Allah's Apostle (saas). When he received it he said: "O Allah, bless us in our fruits; and bless us in our city; and bless us in our sa's (a measurement unit) and bless us in our mudd (a measurement unit). He would then call to him the youngest child and give him those fruits."11

"Whenever he came back from a journey, the children of his household would be taken out to meet him." He (saas) used to hug them close to him, as 'Abd-Allah ibn Jafar (ra) said:

"Whenever the Prophet (saas) came back from a journey, we would be taken out to meet him. One day we met him, Hassan, Hussein and I. He carried one of us in front of him, and another on his back, until we entered Madina."12

'Once the Prophet (saas) went out during the day… then he sat in the compound of Fatima's house and asked about the small boy (his grandson Hassan). After a while the boy came out running and the Prophet (saas) embraced and kissed him'."13

Jaabir bin Samurah (ra) has this to say on the subject:

"I prayed along with Allah's Messenger (saas) the first prayer. He then went to his family and I also went along with him when he met some children (on the way). He began to pat the cheeks of each one of them. He also patted my cheek and I experienced a coolness or a fragrance of his hand as if it had been brought out from the scent bag of a perfumer."14

The Prophet Muhammad (saas) was sent at a time when female babies were killed at birth, but he stressed that girls should not be discriminated against in favor of boys, and that it was a sin to kill them. By demonstrating equal love for and interest in both, he set an excellent example to the whole of society. The following is an example of what the Prophet (saas) said about female children:

"A daughter is a lovely child; affectionate, eager to help, mild and full of sacred feelings of motherhood."15

The Prophet (saas) demonstrated his love in word and deed. He would tell children how much he loved them.16

The Prophet (saas) never favored one child over another. He showed the same affection and compassion to the children of the faithful that he did to his own children and grandchildren. When Halid bin Said (ra) visited the Prophet (saas), there was a little girl by his side. The Prophet (saas) showed her special affection because she had been born in Abyssinia. On one occasion, the Prophet (saas) had a piece of embroidered fabric in his hands. He called the girl over and gave it to her, making her very happy.

Jemre (ra) was a small child at the time. Her father would bring her into the presence of the Prophet (saas) and ask for him to pray to Allah to make her prosperous. The Prophet (saas) took Jemre (ra) in his lap, placed his hand on her head, and prayed.

Usama (ra), the son of the Prophet's (saas) assistant Zaid (ra), had this recollection of the Prophet (saas):

"Allah's Apostle (saas) used to put me on (one of) his thighs and Al-Hassan bin 'Ali on his other thigh, and then embraced us and said: 'O Allah! Please be Merciful to them, as I am merciful to them'."17

Some people were unable to understand why the Prophet (saas) played with children and took such an interest in them. On one accasion, Akra bin Habis (ra) saw the Prophet (saas) kissing Hassan (ra), and said:

" 'I have ten children and have never kissed one of them'." The Prophet (saas) looked at him and said, 'Those who show no mercy will be shown no mercy'."18

The Prophet's (saas) venerable son Ibrahim (ra) would frequently visit the house of his wet nurse, show her love and affection, and stroke her head. Anas bin Malik (ra), the servant of the Prophet (saas), has another recollection:

"I never saw anyone who was more compassionate towards children than the Messenger of Allah (saas). His son Ibrahim was in the care of a wet-nurse in the hills around Madinah. He would go there, and we would go with him, and he would enter the house, pick up his son and kiss him, then come back."19

Our Prophet (saas) also warned the faithful to treat their children justly, and said:

"Fear Allah and treat your children with equal justice."20

The Prophet (saas) also placed great emphasis on children's education and their being brought up with a proper morality, and showed the way by giving a great deal of advice on the matter. Some of the things he had to say are as follows:

"The best things that a man leaves behind after his death are a virtuous child who invokes Allah for him, a perpetual charity, the reward of which reaches him, and a beneficial knowledge which remains useful after him."21

"One of a child's duties to his father is to make his name and behavior fitting."22

"Be hospitable to your children and raise them to be well-behaved ..."23

As in all subjects, the Prophet Muhammad (saas) was an excellent model to the faithful as far as taking an interest in children and showing them love and affection. He communicated the importance of showing love to children in the words, "He does not belong to us who does not show mercy to our young ones...."24

It is really odd that despite the fact that Prophet Mohammed (saas) was a great admirer of children and he loved them greatly, there are still some people who belittle girls, and try to bring back the pagan morals of the ignorant society before Islam.

Prophet Mohammed (saas) was a very modern, cheerful, open-minded, kind man that valued art and science greatly. Our beautiful Prophet (saas) treated everyone very kindly, as a Muslim that lived the true religion, being the perfect role model for all Muslims. These examples make it very clear how Muslims should treat their children, how the attitude of an ideal Muslim should be and explicitly show the baselessness of the radical state of mind.

It is not physical strength or gender that makes one superior, it is only the fear of Allah

As the examples here make it very clear, people with a radical state of minds try to incorporate things that are not in the Qur'an as a part of Islam and they even go farther and reject the commands in the Qur'an that they do no like. It angers them greatly that in the Qur'an, love, compassion, brotherhood and peace are advised, that all the beauties are praised, that science and art are encouraged, that women and children are prioritized, loved and protected. The radical state of mind believes that no matter what, men are always better. However, as Allah makes it clear in the Qur'an, superiority has nothing to do with being a man or a woman, or physical strength or other such criteria:

Allah says in one verse, “...Whatever good you do, Allah knows it. Take provision; but the best provision is fear of Allah. So have fear of Me, people of intelligence.” (Surat Al-Baqara, 197) and makes it clear that the best provision one can have is the fear of Allah. Believers love for each other correlates with their fear of Allah, and they enjoy each others company greatly as a manifestation of Allah and consider each other as deserving of everything that is beautiful.

This strong love for the manifestations of Allah, which is real love, depth and passion, originates from love for Allah. This love creates an indescribable pleasure in one’s soul and turns into an irresistible delight that stongly affects one’s soul, which gets even stronger as one's faith and wisdom become deeper. It is a great blessing that Allah allows His believing servants to taste that beautiful feeling. It is explained very wisely in the Qur'an that this love can be achieved with sincerity and depth:

“Those who submit themselves completely to Allah and do good have grasped the Firmest Handhold. The end result of all affairs is with Allah.” (Surat Al-Luqman, 22)

Muslims being happy, loving, modern, peaceful, and fond of art and science is only natural as it is the requirement of the true Islam.

Satan has developed this loveless system of hatred and anger, denying all the great beauties in life such as love, art, science, joy, women, children, in an attempt to drive people away from Islam. By the grace of Allah, this horrible system will be ended completely by the means of Hz. Mahdi (as).